“I would like to point out that one of the major achievements of the prime minister's foreign trips in the last few months is the reinforcement of our uranium and our nuclear programme,” he said.

Singh said the pacts signed during Modi's foreign visits included an agreement with Canada in April for procuring 5,000 metric tonnes (MT) of uranium. “During his (PM) visit to Kazakhstan, we could finalize a deal for 7,000 MT uranium. During his visit to Australia, a nuclear cooperation agreement, which had waited for several years, was finalized,” the minister told Lok Sabha.

He said during Modi's visit to the US, a deal was finalized for the construction of nuclear reactors in Gujarat and during the visit to France, a deal was finalized with Areva, the world's leading nuclear power company.

“For the visit of the prime minister to Russia, a programme has been finalized for expansion of the nuclear programme," the minister said.

He added that another important achievement since the Modi government came to power in May 2014 was collaborations with other countries besides achieving a position where India could lend help to other countries.

“For example, we are now offering training to Bangladesh and neighbouring countries in the nuclear reactor programme," Singh said.

The minister described introduction of the Atomic Energy Bill, 2015 in Lok Sabha on Monday as a “historic step", saying for the first time in the history of independent India, the government had sought to amend the Atomic Energy Act of 1962.